Locking adjustment



May 11,1943. c. J.' STUART 2,318,815

LOCKING ADJUSTMENT v Filed Nov. 9 1940 i??- f Z /4 f ATTORN Y adj usted Patented May 11, 1943 LOCKING ADJUSTMENT Charles J. Stuart, Medford Mas s. assigner to Wellman Company, Medford, Mass., a corporation of Maine Application November 9, 19,40, Serial No. 364,964 1Y0 Claims. y(Cl. 287-53) This invention relates to Ia locking adjustment, more particularly a locking adjustment `for blank cutting machines.

In sole cutting machines of the type shown in patents A,to McGowan No. 1,645,441, 'and iPilJen Nos. 1,270,319 and 1,418,604, the sheet stock t be `cut is clamped between a pattern and a work table, anda knife .is driven around the edge of the pattern to cut out the blank. Thisiknife is 4driven by a series of flexible connections from :an endless chain moving in an elongated path labove the pattern. At an intermediate point ,in the driving connections they are constrained .by a device termed a leader to follow a path more closely like the pattern than the elongated path of the drive chain. vAlso in order to pro- ,videfor cutting soles larger or smaller than ,aver- .age ,both the chain drive and the leader are -provided with adjusting mechanism to lengthen or shorten their effective paths, and these adjusting mechanisms are provided with rotatable hand wheels or knobs for actuating them.

The hand Wheels, in the form shown in ,Fig- Aure 2 of liattenNo. 1,418,604, are secured in an position by hand nuts or locking wheels vthreaded on `the pins or shafts Iabout which the 'hand adjusting Wheels are rotated, and small friction washers have been placed between each hand nut Iand its :adjusting wheel. These vhand nuts therefore act to lock ,the adjusting lhand `wheels largely by the binding of their threads on the :threads of the shaft, and due to the high speed of the machine and the irregular path Vin which the knife is moved the vibration is .so lgreat rthat considerable 'trouble 'has been found inretaining the adjusting hand wheels in locked position.

Bythe present invention an improved form oi locking device for the Ihand Wheels is provided, this device taking the form of a member having on opposite sides annular frictional bearing surfaces surrounding and radially spaced from the shaft or pin on which the hand wheel is mounted, and these opposed frictional bearing surfaces are engaged `against corresponding `surfaces on the adjacent sides of the locking hand wheel and the adjusting hand wheel or knob when the locking Wheel is screwed up in the directionof the adjusting wheel.

An object of the present inventionis to provide an improved locking mechanism for hand adjusting wheels or knobs.

Another object is to provide a locking mechanism having extended frictional bearing surffaceswvhich give secure locking under `conditions of severe vibration `without sacrifice of ready hand adjustment.

Other objects will appear from the detailed description and drawing, in vwhich latter Figure l is a longitudinal section through one form of the invention,

Figure 2 is vasimilar section of la modication, and

Figure 3 is l,a similarsection of a further modifgation.

.Referring to theA `specific embodiments shown the drawing, in ,Figure 1 the ,numeral I is applied to a Aifofatgapi'e 'shaft driven `from the main dr-ive of a sole cutting machine Vsuch as shown `in the Yabove named McGowan or Patten patents and this-shaft carries a face plate 2 provided with a dovetail recess v3 Vin which is slid- Aably mounted a block 4 carrying a crank pin 5.

.A pinion B is rotatably -mounted -on the .crank pin 51by means of a sleeve .1 and rigidly keyed on the sleeve I is Ianfadjusting hand wheel 8. The

.pinion 6 engages fa fixed -rack 9 mount/ed on the v face plate V2. Rotatably mountedon the sleeve `I .between the pinion 6 and `hand wheel `8 -is a .crank pin v-block Ill, which is of `the construcltion more fully shown vat 5 5 in-Figinfe of the -BattentPatent No. 1,270,319.

The Icuter end of fthe crank pin 5 is threaded and threadedly secured on .this endis a nut .II 'which is -rigid orintegral with a flexible 'disc I2, which llatter `adjacent .its periphery .is provided `with Van attached or integral friotional bearing ring I3 whichmay be 4or any suitable material suchras soft metal, rubber, leather, or bre. The

@nut I I'may ybe secured in adjusted positionby the lock Hnut `Ill. Threaded on the endiof'the crank pin -5 outside of the lock nut .I4 is lthe locking vhand wheeler knob lI 5 which is provided with an vannular@ frictional bearing surface -I6 of such a diameter as 1to=locate it opposite the frictional `bearing ring I3.

In themod-iiication `shown infFigure2 the `parts up to and including the hand adjusting'wheel 8 arreimilar tocthose shown in Figure 1. lRigidlysecured oni-the crank pin ,5,.asby a set screw, is ,the hub ,ITI of a flexible disc I8, which disc at lits outer peripheryandon the side adjacentthe `hand wheel is provided with an annular wedge shaped yprojection I9-which isadapted .to cooper- -ate in operation with a wedge shaped recess 20 on `the face oi thehand wheel-B adjacent its periphery. Aflocking hand wheel 2i is threaded on the ,end of the Vcrankpin-l, andthe disc I6 on ,the side .opposite vthe annular projection I9 has a wedge shaped annular `proj ection-22 which inoperation is adapted to cooperate with a wedge shaped recess 23 on the inner face of the locking wheel 2|. The projections I9 and -22 together form an enlarged fring adjacent, the periphery of disc I8.

In the modification shown in Figure 3 the construction is, in general, similar to that shown in Figure 2, there being a hub 24 carrying a disc 25, which latter is provided on its face adjacent the adjusting hand wheel 8 with an annular wedge shaped projection 26 adapted to cooperate with a corresponding wedge shaped recess 21 in the hand wheel. On the opposite face of the disc it is provided with a wedge shaped annular projection 29 for cooperation with a complementary wedge shaped recess formed on the inner face of the locking wheel 28. The essential difference in this form from that shown in Figure 2 is that the hub 24, instead of being rigidly mounted on the crank pin 5, is slidably keyed thereon by the key 3l, and therefore, in this form of the invention it is not essential that the disc 25 be made flexible.

In operation, in the form shown in Figure 1, the nut Il carrying the flexible disc I2 and frictional bearing ring I3 is rst threaded onto the crank pin 5 until the ring I3 nearly or lightly contacts with the face of the hand wheel 8, and the lock nut I4 is then screwed up against the nut II, the binding of the nuts II and I4 against each other and on the threads of crank pin 5 holding the disc I2 firmly against rotary movement, after which the locking hand wheel I5 is threaded onto the crank pin 5. In adjusting during operation, the hand wheel 8 is turned until the desired position of the controlled machine part has been obtained, after which the locking hand wheel I5 is turned until it has forced the frictional bearing ring I3 into close frictional contact with the side face of the hand wheel 8. It will be seen that by the present invention the frictional bearing surface of the ring I3 is relatively large and spaced a considerable distance radially from the crank pin 5, and when the locking hand wheel I5 is screwed up its bearing surface I6 contacts with the disc l2 along an annular area directly behind the frictional bearing ring I3. The hand wheel 8 is thus secured in adjusted position by means of an extended frictional bearing which is practically independent yof any jamming of threads on the crank pin 5,

and in use the friction has been found to very effectively hold the parts in adjusted position notwithstanding severe vibration of the machine. A further advantage is that since the ring I3 is Vfixed against rotation there is no tendency by the locking wheel I5 when turned to alter the adjustment of wheel 8. Since the nuts II and I4 can be rmly locked by a wrench no diiculty is experienced securely holding the disc I2 against any tendency to rotate by reason of the frictional contact of the bearing surface I6 of the hand locking wheel I5.

In the form shown in Figure 2, when the locking wheel 2I is screwed up, the frictional bearing surfaces I9-29, and 22-23 are brought into engagement by reason of the flexibility of the disc I8 which permits a limited axial movement of the annular wedge shaped projections I9 and 22.

The operation of the form shown in Figure 3 is identical in all respects with that shown in Figure 2 except that, as before stated, the disc carrying the annular wedge shaped projections 26 and 29 is slidably mounted on the crank pin so that the disc, its hub, and the wedge shaped projections are moved axially of the crank pin, thus obviating any necessity for making the disc 25 exible.

It is obvious that the frictional engaging faces of the adjusting wheel, locking wheel and intermediate member can assume many varying forms without departing from the spirit of the invention.

While the invention has been shown and described as applied to sole cutting machines, of the type shown in the McGowan and Patten patents, it is also obvious that it is not limited to such use, and may be employed wherever it is desired to rlxedly secure an adjusting hand wheel against movement after adjustment.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire Ato protect by Letters Patent is:

1. A locking adjustment comprising a support, an adjusting member mounted on said support and rotatable in respect thereto, a manually rotatable locking member threadedly adjustable on said support toward and from said adjusting member, friction surfaces on the opposed faces of said adjusting and locking members, a member non-rotatably mounted on said support and axially movable between said adjusting and locking members, friction surfaces carried by said non-rotatable member and operatively engageable with said friction surfaces on said adjusting and locking members, and all of said friction surfaces having their outer peripheries spaced a substantial distance outwardly from the axis of rotation of said adjusting and locking members.

2. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, an adjusting member rotatable on said shaft, a manually rotatable locking member threadedly adjustable on said shaft toward and from said adjusting member, friction surfaces on the opposed faces of said adjusting and locking members, a member non-rotatably mounted on said shaft and axially movable between said adjusting and locking members, friction surfaces carried by said last member and operatively engageable with said friction surfaces on said adjusting and locking members, and all of said friction surfaces having substantially equal radii and their outer peripheries spaced outwardly from the axis of said shaft close to the point of application of the manual forces to said locking member.

3. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, an adjusting member rotatably mounted on said shaft, a manually rotatable locking member threadedly adjustable on said shaft toward and from said adjusting member, said adjusting and locking members having opposed faces carrying annular frictional engaging surfaces, a ringshaped member non-rotatably mounted on said shaft and axially movable between said adjusting and locking members, said ring-shaped member being provided with annular frictional engaging surfaces for contact with respective frictional engaging surfaces of said adjusting and locking members, and all of said friction surfaces being concentric and having substantially equal maximum radii extending adjacent to the radius of application of the manual forces to said locking member.

4. A locking adjustment comprising a support, an axially-stationary rotatable adjusting member, a locking member mounted on said support and threadedly adjustable toward and from said adjusting member, said members having opposed faces, a ring-shaped member non-rotatably mounted on said support but axially movable be,-

tween said faces, and complementary frictionally engageable projections and recesses disposed on said faces and ring-shaped member.

5. A locking adjustment comprising a support, an axially-stationary rotatable adjusting member, a locking member mounted on said support and threadedly adjustable toward and from said adjusting member, said members having opposed faces, a third member non-rotatably mounted on said support but axially movable between said faces, and complementary arcuate projecting and recessed frictionally engageable areas disposed on said faces and third member.

6. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, an adjusting wheel rotatable thereon, a locking wheel threadedly mounted on said shaft adjacent said first wheel, a ring non-rotatably mounted on said shaft and movable between said wheels, said ring having friction surfaces adjacent its periphery, and friction surfaces on said wheels cooperating with said first named friction surfaces.

'7. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, an adjusting member rotatable thereon, a locking member threadedly adjustable on said shaft tof ward and from said first having opposed faces, a relatively thin and flexible disc non-rotatably mounted on said shaft between said members, oppositely outwardly vdirected projections disposed adjacent the periphery of said disc, and recesses, complementary to said projections, disposed on the faces of said two members, walls of said projections and recesses forming frictionally engageable locking surfaces.

8. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft,

member, said members an adjusting member rotatable thereon, a locking member threadedly adjustable on said shaft toward and from said first member, said members having opposed faces, a disc' non-rotatably mounted on said shaft between said faces and keyed to said shaft for axial movement thereon, and arcuate complementary projections and recesses on said disc and members, said projections adapted to lbe engaged in locking relation with said recesses by movement of said locking member.

9. A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, a hand wheel rotatable thereon in fixed axial position, a second hand wheel threadedly movable on said shaft toward and from said first wheel, a flat friction ring non-rotatably mounted on said shaft between opposed faces of said wheels concentrically of said shaft and movable only axially of said shaft, and adapted to frictionally engage the opposed faces of said wheels.

10.- A locking adjustment comprising a shaft, a hand wheel rotatable thereon in fixed axial position, a second hand wheel threadedly movable on said shaft toward and from said first wheel, a flat friction ring concentrically and non-rotatably secured on said shaft between said wheels and resiliently movable axially of the shaft but fixed radially thereof, means for axially varying the location of said ring on the shaft, and said ring adapted to frictionally engage the opposed faces of said wheels upon movement of the second wheel toward the first.

CHARLES J. STUART. 

